USS Harry S. Truman Conducts Eight Change of Command Ceremony

Rear Adm. Herman Shelanski, commander of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 10, presided over the ceremony in which Capt. S. Robert Roth relieved Capt. Dee L. Mewbourne in front of six former Truman commanding officers (CO), families, friends, shipmates, and members of the Truman Foundation, the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, and the St. Louis Navy League.

“Today is the culmination of [Mewbourne’s] third carrier commanding officer tour,” said Shelanski. “Sailors of the Truman met or exceeded every goal due to the leadership and efforts of [Mewbourne].”

“I never forgot the tragedy that brought me to Truman, nor my focused mission to bring her back to the fleet with her crew trained and ready to operate,” said Mewbourne. “This crew performed magnificently.”

Shelanski presented Mewbourne the Legion of Merit. Additionally, the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation General Counsel Westbrook Murphy made Mewbourne an honorary member of the Truman scholar class of 2012.

“As any captain knows, the ship is not much more than welded steel, it is the crew who transforms the vessel into a fighting warship,” said Roth. “The Sailors of Truman have devoted a portion of their lives to service, and I am humbled and honored to become their CO. I commit to being ready to defend United States interests across the globe.”